Hurt Me but Love Me More ( Reader x Eren Jaegar )
by XxDerpyAyamexX
Summary: Eren Jaegar was the one and only beloved childhood friend of yours whom used to always have play dates with you until one day the news broke in, announcing that he passed away. You were in a major state of shock which had drastically changed you completely at a young age. Until years later thinking that he was dead, you have reunited with Eren and you deeply grew affectionate feeli
1. My Strange Acquaintance

"Drip-drop, drip-drop" 'twas the sound of my tears falling onto the hard wooden floor in my lonely, cold bedroom. I strongly refused myself to stop crying, for which the news left a deep wound into my weakened heart. The blurred flashbacks recalled on my dear, loving mother who hugged me into her arms and told me that my very close friend, Eren Jaegar, has left us. The flashbacks weren't any help to make me feel better. My chest was in much more pain and more tears began to burst out. This was unfortunate because last spring was when my father had left us as well.

"What a tragic fate for him at such a young age," I thought. He was my close friend - my only friend. Eren was the only one who had protected me from other young villagers who cursed at me and made fun of me just because I was the odd one out of every one of them. I stupidly attempted to run away from home because I could no longer take the teasing. I wanted to leave the cruel world, but Eren was there. I remember every detail there was. I was on the edge of a cliff where the gentle waves of the ocean side brushed against. It was a short amount of time before I was actually going to jump off and land into the other side of the world, but then I felt a hand grip tightly on mine. I turned around and there he was - out of breath and his eyes widened &amp; filled with absolute concern.

I shook my head to get the flashbacks out of my head. It wasn't doing me any good. As soon as I got myself together, I heard a shrieking, unpleasant, demonic scream and a 'bang' outside of my window. Each of the banging grew louder, leaving me to be curious yet scared. I carefully peaked through my blinds and let out a sharp gasp. I felt my eyes widening as they filled up with fear. A huge monstrous and muscular figure was standing in front of my window, staring right at me. I closed the blinds that I was peaking through and backed away, hoping it didn't completely catch the sight of me, but I tripped on an object and fell, thus making a small commotion. I waited for a moment to see if the beast was planning on going after me. I quickly got up and peaked outside once again. This time, there was nothing but rotting flesh vaporizing into thin air. I rushed downstairs and ran outside to what it seem was the body of the monstrous beast from before. However, within that body, there was a human body in it as well.

The villagers all were in a state of shock and made a commotion, surrounding the rotting beast's body. I, too, had wanted to know what it was. When I saw the person's body covered in vaporizing blood, I had frozen up a bit, but I went back into my senses and help the fainted body out of the mess. It turned out to be a young man about my age. I heard my mother from a distance calling out to my name, which had me startled a bit.

"_, are you alright, dear?!" shouted my mother. She sighed in relief as soon as she saw me. She noticed I struggled slightly trying to carry the young man back home so she came and helped me. Mother and I fixed the guest bed for the young man to rest on until he can regain his conscious again. Mother told me it'd be best for me to stay with him until he woke up in case he would need any assistance since she will be taking her leave into the mountains for a few days at the temple to visit father's grave. We both said our good-byes and I gave my mother a longing hug because I wouldn't know what to do if I would lose her as well. The thought of it made me sad and depressed.

It was taking awhile for him to regain his conscious again, but I didn't mind so much. Although my eyes began to feel heavy and I felt weak. I was slowly dazing off and couldn't help it since so many things all at once today. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to take a short nap, would it? I mean, it has been awhile. Moments passed by and suddenly I felt a small nudge on my shoulder. I awoke quickly, remembering that I had to watch over the mysterious boy. I rubbed my tired eyes and yawned while he blankly stared at me.

"Who're you..? Why am I here? How did I get here?" asked the young man. He sure did ask multiple questions at once.

"Um.. more importantly, what are YOU doing here in the first place disguised in a monstrous body? You nearly scared the living of everyone around here.." I rose up an eyebrow, confused at his questions that were asked towards me. "Where are you from anyway? You don't look like someone around from this village.." I crossed my arms and bluntly sighed while slightly pursuing my lips together.

"U-Uh, I was coming from a town called Tarthia.. i-it's my village where I am from. You see, I have this intense, special force in me. Whenever I get a cut deep enough to bleed, I turn into the monster that everyone and you has seen earlier. It's my Titan form."

"'Titan form?'" I glared down at him because it sounds ridiculously unbelievable to me. He seemed to be hesitant to tell me, but did anyway and he had some sort of guilt look on his face. I loosened myself up and sighed once more. However, I still wasn't going to buy his nonsense unless I would see the evidence myself. From what I saw earlier was not much for me to believe this whole thing.

"I - I'm gonna shut up now." The boy sat still and wandered his eyes around while sitting in filth from the rotting flesh.

I stared at him for a moment then began to giggle a bit. "Here, why don't I get the bath ready for you to wash up? Not only do you look dirty, but you smell.. a lot." My giggles became into laughter as I brushed sides of my hair behind my ears.


	2. A New Feeling

I awaited outside of my bathroom door for the young man to finish bathing. He had finally came out and the steam from the warm water casually followed him out. "Did you enjoy yourself in there?" I glanced up as he gave me a slight grin and nodded his head. I also noticed he shuffled around and adjusted the clothing that I had given to him. "I do apologize.. my father was quite a big, muscular man."

"Oh, it's alright. I prefer bigger size in clothing anyway. It's much more comfortable in my taste," he said with a slight chuckle. He walked around a bit then stopped, only to then give me a weird look. "Where are your parents anyway? Or.. do you live by yourself?" He paused after his question as soon as he saw a portrait of my family and I. His face expression dropped as if he had said 'oh.'

"My mother had left to visit my father's grave up in the mountains of Anohana not too long ago when we both brought you inside to rest from what happened. And if you didn't catch on with what I said when I mentioned about my father, then well, my father is no longer here with us. He passed on last spring, so it is just me and my mother here to take care of this house to which my father had built with his very hands when we moved here from Okinawa."

"I'm very sorry for your loss.. really. It must have been really hard for you and your mother to not have a fatherly figure apart of the family anymore. I no longer have my mother with me either and I miss her dearly.."

I felt his hand softly touching and resting on my shoulder. I was surprised a stranger like him would be comfortable to comfort someone who he barely met. But it somehow also felt nice for someone to send their condolences and grieve to my family. A warm and soft smile appeared on my face as he comforted me. "Thank you. Even though my father is not physically with us, he will always be with us spiritually and mentally. I, too, am sorry about your loss as well. May your mother and my father rest peacefully within the hands of God."

I don't know whether I was having illusions or not, but I somehow made the young man smile after saying that about both of our losses. It was as if my words enlightened him. We both stared into each other's eyes for a moment until I realized what was happening. I broke away and slightly shook my head as I faced the opposite direction of him. Why did he look so familiar the more that I look at him? Of course he doesn't, I didn't even ask for his name.

"I'm sorry, how rude of me. I didn't introduce myself. I'm _." I put a hand on my cheek and felt it being warm. I must be foolishly blushing for nothing; how embarrassing. I slowly gazed up because I noticed that he wasn't saying a word at all. There was confusion and shock written all over him.

"_...? _?! I-Is it really you?! Please.. tell me it is! I have searched everywhere for you, but there was no way to know where you were! I-It's Eren... everyone has told you that I was dead, but I wasn't!" His shock had him broken down in tears of joy now that he has reunited with me once again in years since our childhood. He rushed to me and groped me into a tight hug.

I was quite shocked myself. I blankly blinked and stared off into the distance and reluctantly pushed him off. "E...Eren? It's not possible.. no... y-you're lying.. you ARE dead.. I-I saw your grave. Your funeral and everything.." The flashbacks came back. It was a roomful of people in mourn grieving over Eren, but there it was. A portrait of Eren with white daisies and lilies placed around his coffin. There was a funeral for his dead self. He can't be alive.

"How dare you impose as Eren.. please, stop. THIS ISN'T FUNNY!" Tears began to form in my eyes and stroll down along my cheeks. My fists clenched together as I tried to calm down.

"Wha- no, please. Hear me out. I'll explain everything on whatever you need or want to know. I promise, _. Just.. believe me. Please. Calm down and let's sit &amp; talk about this, hm?" He cupped my cheeks in his hands and lifted my face up slightly enough for our eyes to meet again. I softly nodded and wiped my tears away. We both silently sat down and we let the silence took over some quite time before neither one of us could finally say anything.

"I still don't believe you're Eren.. prove it to me that you ARE him, then we can settle this major misunderstanding.." My glare went through him, as it seemed that he started to stutter, not knowing how to quite convince me that it really is him. He sighed and finally got up. He slowly lifted his shirt and showed me a very familiar scar that was shaped as the first letter of my name - "_"

"Does this somewhat ring a bell, _?"

"H-How... but I thought -"

"You thought.. but you didn't know. A relative of mine had sent me away to study overseas without my father's consent, which had made him really upset. That relative threatened my father that if he were to bring me back, they would eventually literally kill me. My father had to act on a lie to everyone that I had passed on from a sickness for the sake of my life. My relatives weren't the nicest people to be around. They envy my father and his money. They would do ANYTHING for it, even if it means to kill my father. They've stolen from him before and I'm sure they can do it again, _. I'm very worried for him.."

"D-Don't worry, E-Eren.. I'm here for you right now. We're both finally reunited, no? We'll find a way together to have this whole thing settled down. Trust me." After awhile, my smile had came back. I softly pulled him into a hug and I felt his arms wrapped around my body. His chest was very warm. It feels like I could stay like this forever. But wait, what am I doing? This idiotic boy, Eren Jaegar, is only a friend of mine, nothing more! Why do I feel like this then? My heart beating differently from before, my cheeks with blood rushing in them and drowning in rogue red, and my stomach feeling funny?


	3. More Company and Memories

"I assume you've been well, _?" Eren asked as he smiled while softly holding my hands. I happily nodded and returned the cheerful smile.  
I can't believe that it's Eren. He's returned after so many years that we have been separated. I have never been so delighted and bright in my whole life besides being with my family. This - this is so different from that though. Oh, what am I doing?! I'm at it again. "A-Anyway, how was your studying in over seas?" I awkwardly chuckled and moved my hands away from his as I nervously scratched the side of my head.

"Um.. it was alright, I guess. I mean, everything was really cool, but it wasn't up to my taste in a school. It was too fancy and formal. It was so formal that 'je ai appris à parler français' (I had to learn how to speak French).. it was somewhat fun, but I thought of you, my friend, the whole time. It was a bit lonely up there, but I made a couple of friends. Ouhh, especially this one girl who was cool."

"Oh? And who is she?" I somehow grew some jealousy in me and my eyebrows furrowed close together as I glared at Eren.

"She's the first person to who have welcomed me there, so basically she was my first friend that I met-" Eren wimpered in pain as I punched his side. He fell over to his side and gasped desperately for air.

"My. Sincere. Apologies. Eren." I gave a dark, yet innocent smile and watched him lying on the floor. "Don't forget that I was your first friend that you made in your entire life.. hmph."

"Of course, _! I would never forget that. I was just saying she was the first person to have made acquaintances with me over seas. Her name is Mikasa. A lot of people, including her own friends always tease us by saying that we make a good couple, but I don't really like her that way though.. well, maybe a slight bit, but she-"

I drilled my fist into Eren's side once again and he gasped for air and winced at the pain.

"Okay, okay! I'll shut up.. geez." Eren wheezed and sighed as he rubbed his throbbing, bruised side.

"You deserve that. Dummy~" I smiled and giggled as I stuck my tongue out at him.

We were having fun until someone came knocking on the door. I got up and opened the door hesitantly then saw an older woman with long, luscious, blonde locks, crystal blue eyes, and was wearing a lengthened maiden outfit. I casually greeted her as I invited her inside the house. "May I help you, Miss?" She gazed around the house then turned her attention to me. She smiled and hugged me.

"My, you have grown so much since the last time I have seen you, _!" She exclaimed.

I was very confused at this point and didn't quite know who this woman was. "I-I have..? Um, but I don't even really know you that well, Miss."

"Oh, pfft.. well, of course you don't. You have never seen me in your entire life! You have only seen me when you were a baby, but obviously you don't remember because you were a baby, hehe~ They call me Aunt Helen. I'm from your mother's side of the family."

"Ah, I see now. Pardon my rudeness earlier, but it is a pleasure to have meet and make your acquaintance, Aunt Helen." I quickly grabbed both ends of the hem of my dress and bowed to her.

"And as well as I, Miss _. How are you, my darling?~ You're so small, but yet have such a splendid figure. Have you been eating?" Aunt Helen glared at me and pointed a finger at me. I giggled and nodded in reply.

"Yes, Aunt Helen. I mean, all we have here are bread, vegetables, and seafood. There's not much meat to eat around here, but I do eat to the fullest though, hehe." I rubbed the back of my head and sheepishly smiled. It finally took some time for Aunt Helen to notice that Eren was standing right behind me.

"Oh. Hello, _'s boyfriend!~ Hmhmhm." She nudged me then let out a small giggle. I scoffed then gave her a look. I then didn't realize that I was deeply blushing. I could feel the warmth of my cheeks going up to my ears.

"He's not my boyfriend! He's my childhood friend who went missing for years.." I quickly explained to her before she could make any more unbelievable accusations.

"Y'know, childhood friends sometimes end up with long-term relationships." Aunt Helen moved closer to my ear and whispered, "They even turn out as marriages and have kids.. -" I stopped and shushed Aunt Helen because I was growing more warm with all of the blood rushing through my whole body.

"_, a-are you okay? You're really red now. And you're also really warm.. are you having a fever?!" Eren grew concerned and then felt my forehead for my temperature. "You need to rest.."

I calmed down Eren and told him that it was nothing and that he was overreacting. "N-No, I'm fine, heh.. Aunt Helen is just being a typical aunt." I glared and narrowed my eyes at Aunt Helen, seeing that she's laughing uncontrollably at my reactions. Now I feel so embarrassed because I haven't seen Eren in so long and yet I'm acting like this in front of him. I mean, I DID have a slight crush on him when we were kids. I then smiled at the sudden flashback that came up into my mind.

~ It was a sunny spring day. Eren and I were about 9 years old during this time. We both loved taking walks to the river banks where my mother used to take us every summer to swim to cool off. Unfortunately my mother was busy at the time so he and I decided to go by ourselves, just the two of us. We were playing in the shallow river and we were having a little too much fun until I ended up scraping my knee, which had bled quite a bit. Eren helped carry me and we both found a shady area underneath the big trees.

"You have to be careful, _! You made me so worried.." Eren looked at me with his big, green, puppy eyes.

"S-Sorry, Eren.. I will be careful next time. It's just I was having fun and I didn't see that root and so I happened to trip on it. My knee kind of hurts, but I'll be fine!" Despite the dirt on my face, I was still able to smile because being with my good friend Eren made the pain go away, especially when Eren kissed my 'booboo' and claimed to have made it feel better. I wasn't sure, but it seemed that he had a small crush on me as well, but he absolutely made it obvious. It was very memorable and cute at the same time.

"_, I promise that we will be best friends until the day that we die! We'll still be friends even when we're going around haunting people as ghosts!" Eren and I laughed as our conversations carried on and about regarding our really good companionship. "If the time comes, I want to have you as my wife too! Would you want to marry me, _? I think we would make the best couple in the world!" Eren giggled and blushed at his question.

As a kid at that age, I didn't know what so say. I didn't think he meant it or had it as a joke. I mean, we were kids. How were we supposed to know what we were talking about? Marriage was only for adults and old people, so I went with the flow and accepted his "proposal." It was childish, but I enjoyed being with him, especially since he was my only friend that I had. ~

"_? Hello? Yoohooo ~" Aunt Helen nudged me again while I had day dreamed into my very own world. I quickly came back to my senses and chuckled.

"Anyone up for dinner?" I asked to distract Aunt Helen and Eren. As I expected, both of their hands went up.


End file.
